Newark, NJ…A pair of goals 4:02 apart midway through the opening half sparked The College of New Jersey women's soccer team to a 5-0 conference road win over Rutgers-Newark on Saturday night.
 
The win elevated the Lions to 4-1 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference, while improving to 9-1 overall. The loss kept the Scarlet Raiders winless in the conference at 0-4-1 and they are 1-9-1 overall.
 
TCNJ scored what turned out to be the winning goal 23:36 into the game as Taylor Lusardi (Randolph, NJ/Randolph) netted her first collegiate goal and just over four minutes later Katie Lindacher (Egg Harbor Twp., NJ/Egg Harbor Twp.) collected her team-leading seventh of the season staking the Lions to a 2-0 advantage.
 
The Lions repeated their effort of scoring twice within a short span in the second half with senior Allyson Anderson (Point Pleasant, NJ/Point Pleasant) scoring 11:39 into the new period and Kendal Bernardini (Elmer, NJ/Schalick) getting her third goal in the last two games 2:38 later.
 
Freshman Justine Larocca (River Vale, NJ/Pascack Valley) capped the scoring with the first goal of her college career heading in a free kick by classmate Emma Culleton (New Providence, NJ/New Providence). That goal came in the 68^th minute.
 
Sophomore goalie Kendra Griffith (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill West) and Cristina Gacos (Sea Girt, NJ/Wall) each played a half in goal to share the shutout.
 
The Lions take to the road on Wednesday, October 3 for a non-conference game at Gettysburg College. Game time is 4 p.m.